Windows Explorer fails on first boot in Windows 2000

[Guest]

I recently installed some hot fixes in my Windows 2000- SP4 computer. Now
when I boot up the computer, it fails to complete the boot - there is an
hourglass. When I press Alt-Cntrl-Del and get the task manager, no programs
are listed. When I select reboot the computer, the second time it boots, it
finishes the job and I get my icons on the screen.
How do I repair this problem? Any suggestion will be apreciated.
Primero

 

[John John]

How long have you waited for this hourglass to finish its things and go
away? Boot it and leave it sitting there for as long as possible. I've
walked away from some w2k machines and after an hour or so came back
to see that the pc had booted properly and rebooted normally on every
boot thereafter. Sometimes it can take a bit of time for Windows to
update itself.

John

 

[Guest]

I waited an hour or more on a couple of occasions. The problem keeps coming
back. Any ideas what to try next?
Primero

 

[John John]

Is there anything in the event viewer? If so post the message here,
maybe someone can help. Do you remember which hotfix you installed?
Try uninstalling them (one at a time) and see if the problem is
resolved. Before uninstalling hotfixes however it would be preferable
to see if errors are recorded in the event log and try to fix it from
there. Also, empty your temp folder.

John

 

[Guest]

I looked in adm. tools-> event viewer. The recurrent error is Source:NetDDE
and the errror listed is " Listen failed:23.The ncb_lana_num memeber did not
specify a valid network number."
This is followwd by another NetDDE error "Listen failed:15." and " Unknown
Code returned by Lana number 4 while addingnode name to network:0x23
How do I fix these errors, John? Thanks. Primero

 

[John John]

I'm not sure, I'll have to do some "digging". Is this machine on a
network or is it a stand alone? If it's a stand alone disable the
Network Interface Card and see if it helps. If your machine is a stand
alone I can't see why NetDDE would want to start, few programs need this
and it is certainly not needed as an auto start service on most systems,
go in the services manager and set the service to manual start. If you
are on a network it could be needed but even then that is rather rare.

A very possible cause could be spyware trying to connect somewhere,
virus or trojan. Do an up to date virus and spyware scan. In the
meantime maybe one of the pros has a more precice answer to this error.

John

 

[Guest]

John John, I appreciate your input. I am not on a network but I did have
network interface card in the computer and i removed it. I put most of the
services on manual instead of automatic. This double boot problem persists. I
scanned the system for viruses-I am clean. If you have any more thoughts,
please let me know.
Thanks. Primero

 

[John John]

Other possibilities or things to check:

Your desktop is blank after you apply the MS03-026 security patch on
Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;838861

No Desktop or Blank Desktop After Logging On to Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;256194

If q256194 doesn't help try repairing or reinstalling Internet Explorer.

John

 

[Guest]

Turns out this was a wild goose chase. After cleaning my machine with a virus
scan and finding a variety of bot viruses, my system now boots normally. I
must say, I learned a lot about how the system works in the process. Thank
you!
Primero